It rules Brazil’s biggest star out of their semi-final with Germany on Tuesday - and the rest of the tournament as he is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.

But centre-half Luiz insists the hosts can still win the trophy - and they want to dedicate their success to Neymar.

Luiz said: “Of course we will try to win it for him. We will try to win the competition for our people, for Brazil.

“Of course now he is out of the games and everyone is sad and it would be great if we could win it now and celebrate with him.

“I am so happy because we can play the next round, the semi-final of the World Cup. It is a dream. When I was young I dreamt of days like this.

“But I am also a bit sad because Neymar is out of the competition. He is a great guy, a great person and a great player who brings good things to football but now he has to be out and everyone feels a bit sad about that. He is like my brother.

“We have made a pact to support him, to be by his side and also to show the strength of the team. We are very worried. We are going to pray for him because Neymar should be on the pitch.

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“Neymar is a boy that fights a lot and dreamed about playing in a World Cup. He is a boy that only invests in the good things for football: happiness and magic. And now, he will be out of the final because of a foul the defender probably should have avoided.

“Brazil will suffer a lot because of this loss but Neymar will keep helping us with happiness. He is a boy. He will surely grow taller because of this moment.”

Brazil captain Thiago Silva, who misses the semi through suspension, added: “This moment could mark the start of a revolution for us. We have proposed to win the World Cup for Neymar because of the injury he suffered.

“He hopes and expects a lot from this group, and this could unite us, it could give us more determination to win.

“These absences will not damage Brazil. Dante, who will probably replace me, is prepared to play and in the place of Neymar, we can play either Willian or Bernard, who have similar characteristics. This is the moment to show the strength of the squad.”

But Luiz claimed that only Zuniga would know if he meant to injure Neymar and if his conscience was clear.

Zuniga has insisted it was accidental and claimed: “I never set out to injure or hurt the player.”

Luiz said: “Angry? No I didn’t see the challenge and I haven’t seen the video of it, but I never crucify players because in a person’s life you do things and you’re emotional at the time and don’t think.

“So I just say if he did it with bad intentions because he wanted to injure him, then I think now he will feel sad, but if he tried to stop the game that is natural.